Giant Smartphone Theft Warehouse Exposed: You Won’t Believe Its Location

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Have you ever wondered where stolen mobile phones disappear to? A shocking fact has finally been revealed. Millions of handsets stolen from around the world apparently end up in the same place, and the location is truly surprising. Not in a narrow alley or a hidden flea market, the headquarters of this stolen-phone operation apparently lies in a majestic skyscraper named Feiyang Times, located in Shenzhen, China. To the general public, Feiyang Times, situated in Huaqiangbei’s electronics district, seems like a conventional electronics mall selling used devices at bargain prices. However, little did they know, the building’s fourth floor is a ‘paradise’ for the cross-border stolen-phone black market. Local residents openly refer to the place as the ‘Stolen iPhone Building’. According to a Financial Times report a short while ago, thousands of iPhones stolen across Europe and the United States end up there. One account comes from a victim named Sam Amrani. His smartphone was snatched while he was replying to WhatsApp messages on a London street. Realising his phone was missing, Amrani began tracking it himself. Initially, the iPhone’s signal was detected at a mobile-phone repair shop some kilometres from the incident site. Soon after, the device’s location shifted to several addresses around London. Shockingly, within a week of the incident the phone had crossed continents to Kowloon, Hong Kong, before finally ending up in a black warehouse in Shenzhen, China. At Feiyang Times, the syndicates do not merely sell stolen phones in bulk; as many of the latest handsets come with strong security and locks, they also dismantle the devices to sell them as individual components or spare parts. Data extortion modus operandi. Not stopping there, victims of stolen phones often receive threatening messages from the buyers. The modus operandi is that the sender claims not to be the thief, but a third party who will recycle the phone. The victims are then threatened and forced to remove the device’s security locks (iCloud/Google Lock). If victims refuse, the syndicate threatens to sell the phone’s motherboard to other customers. This poses a grave danger as sensitive personal data stored on devices—such as credit card information and banking data—could be leaked and misused. Reflecting on this phenomenon, before misfortune happens to your device, it is strongly advised to tighten your phone’s security system. For iPhone users, ensure you have a complex passcode enabled and switch on the Stolen Device Protection (Perlindungan Perangkat Dicuri) to provide extra protection for your personal data. Hopefully this information helps!